Sheriff IDs divorced couple dead in Columbia Township murder-suicide

Deputies have identified the man and woman who died in a murder-suicide in Columbia Township on Wednesday.

The Hamilton County Sheriff's Office said John Smith, 47, shot and killed his ex-wife, Anna Smith, 53, at the Heritage Hill Estates apartments off Wooster Pike.

According to Sheriff Jim Neil, Anna Smith had moved into Columbia Township, away from John Smith, who lives in the Madisonville neighborhood of Cincinnati.

John Smith confronted Anna Smith outside of her apartment as she was leaving to go to work. Witnesses heard a loud verbal altercation outside the apartment building which turned physical as John grabbed Anna, police said.

Police said Anna Smith fled tried to hide in a vacant apartment but John Smith found her and shot her multiple times, then took his own life.

Neighbors called 911 to report the shooting, according to recordings of the calls.

"Somebody's been shot!" A woman told dispatcher.

The sound of someone knocking can be heard on the phone line and then a man got on.

He told the dispatcher he was at his girlfriend's house.

The man stopped talking to the dispatcher to yell at his girlfriend several times to get back inside her apartment.

The dispatcher asked him: "OK, can you talk to me about what's going on? You're at your girlfriend's?"

"And we heard a gunshot outside and a woman screaming," the man responded. "I ran outside to find out what was going on. He chased her into the building and it looked like an abandoned apartment... he took her inside, pushed her on the ground.

“He pointed the gun at her and all I heard was a shot and I ran into a stranger's house. I don't know these people. They let me in and called you on the phone."

Another neighbor told a dispatcher he heard a total of three gunshots.

When crews arrived, they relayed to dispatchers over a police radio: "We got one down," according to a recording of radio traffic.

Moments later, they said, "We got two down."

Anyone with information on this incident is asked to call the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office Criminal Investigative Section 513-851-6000 or Crime Stoppers at 513-352-3040.